CVAA response to Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund cuts

These changes include:

• Reducing the overall Fair Access Limit (FAL) to £3,000 (previously £5,000)
• No longer having a separate FAL for specialist assessments. Specialist assessments up to the level of £2,500 will be considered for funding, but only within the overall FAL of £3,000.
• No longer accepting match funding applications for therapy which costs more than the £3,000 FAL, or for specialist assessments which cost more than £2,500.
• Ending transitional funding arrangements across years.

In response to the announcement, CVAA’s CEO Satwinder Sandhu said the following:

CVAA believes that today marks a step backwards in this government’s ambition to supporting vulnerable children. Whilst we recognise the economic pressures facing the country, we are dismayed by funding cuts at Department for Education that fall hardest on those with the most complex needs – children from care needing permanence who require intensive therapeutic support. We do not believe that the trauma they have experienced can be meaningfully addressed within the constraints of the new funding limits.

How does today’s statement on the ASGSF align with the government’s own promise to “keep children safe and help families thrive,” made just months ago?

We are particularly concerned by the short-sightedness of this decision, despite the knowledge that exists from research and lived expertise. Unresolved trauma, adopter/carer burnout and family instability do not save money – they lead to greater costs to society down the line. This move will also discourage prospective adopters, at a time when every effort should be made to support them in their wish to adopt a child.

Despite this, voluntary adoption agencies (VAAs) remain unwavering in their commitment to lifelong support for adoptees and adoptive families, a promise made long before the ASGSF existed. Our member agencies at CVAA have a long and proud history of timely responsiveness, innovation, resilience, and steadfastness, even in times of crisis.

VAAs already subsidise government-funded adoption support by millions each year through fundraising and are committed to continuing this with the help of many generous and passionate donors who share their unwavering ambition for vulnerable children’s futures. VAAs are also committed to continuing to work with regional adoption agencies (RAAs) to ensure children get what they need to thrive.

If the government is serious about keeping children safe, and helping families to thrive, they must do better and ensure that children needing permanence are supported for as long as they need through long-term funded access to high quality, evidence-based support.